kingslynnsurveyors.co.uk The people of King’s Lynn have taken their battle with Norfolk County Council to the High Court in proposals for a judicial review of the planned £500m incinerator development on the outskirts of their town.
Read more on the case on the propertysurveying news website here.
A new report originating from a popular think-tank, ‘Policy Exchange’, has put forward strong arguments for the relaxation of rules surrounding development on ‘Green Belt’ land.
To read about these arguments and the wider response, click here.
Most tenancy agreements stipulate obligations on the tenant to remove all of its goods at the end of the agreement. There is no guarantee, however, that the tenant will oblige in this. By leaving goods at the property, the landlord can inadvertently be put in a position he or she likely didn’t predict.
To read more on this and benefit from our advice, click here.
21st November saw the Government release their Affordable Housing Plan – a set of measures designed to tackle Britain’s problems of undersupply and overpricing in the housing market – but has it gone far enough?
Read up on the housing plan and critical reaction here.
www.birminghambuildingsurveyors.co.uk
There is a serious under supply of housing in the West Midlands where housebuilding has fallen by 50 per cent in recent years. But despite a difficult economic backdrop, several partnerships in the region are pushing ahead with major developments to meet the growing demand.
Between 2008 and 2033, the number of households across the West Midlands is projected to grow from 2.24 million to 2.7 million. That equates to annual growth of around 18,000 households or a total expansion of 20 per cent.
It is one of only two regions, the other being the North East, where annual household growth is expected to average less than 20,000 between 2008 and 2033.
Read more about this story here. To find a surveyor in the West Midlands, click the link at the top.
plymouthbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – A new development in the Sherford valley has received the go ahead after years of protests and planning struggles.
The plans to build 5,500 homes on the east side of Plymouth come from developer Redwood and have now been approved by the South Hams District Council. All is not lost for protestors, however, as the planning submission must still be approved by plymouth City Council.
Read more here. For surveys in the Plymouth area, click on the link above.
Inside Housing is offering the chance to win £100 in Marks & Spencer vouchers in exchange for your views on the riots.
Shortly after the riots swept England in August, Inside Housing, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation launched ‘The Riot Report’ to find out what steps can be taken to help prevent a repeat of the violence. Now they want to know what housing professionals, who work for social landlords operating in areas that experienced riots, think caused the disturbances. What would they like their organisations to do to address the underlying problems?
Have your say here.
www.devonsurveyors.co.uk – Property Surveying provides a resource for all property purchasers to find the best surveyor for them. If you are looking to buy a property in Devon the Government, Which? and the RICS all recommend that you get a Chartered Surveyor to inspect it before purchase.
Follow the link above to find a Chartered Surveyor near your property purchase in Devon.
Information has been released by the UKTFA (UK Timber frame Association), with backing from the Health & Safety Executive, following a number of high profile inner city building site blazes. Foremost among them was a large explosion at a buidling site in central Bath.
The Association has advised that contractors have a crucial role to play in specifying the right type of system, indiciating that more expensive products are often required, rather than open pannelled timber frame.
To find out more detail on this story, click here for the full article.
Campaigners are lobbying the Welsh government to amend building regulations to ensure carbon monoxide alarms are installed in new homes.
The Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed group say only 38% of homes in Wales own a carbon monoxide alarm.
As well as new-build regulations, it wants landlords to be forced to provide alarms in properties as part of annual gas safety inspections.
The Welsh government has been asked to comment.
Members of the group will meet assembly ministers at the Senedd at an event hosted by Islwyn AM Gwyn Price.
Campaign spokeswoman, Christine McGourty, said: “There are two simple steps we’d like the Welsh Government to take.
“Firstly, building regulations should be amended so that new homes come with alarms already installed.
“Secondly, providing an alarm should be part of a landlord’s annual gas safety inspection.”
Attending the event will be Adele Forbes, from Blackwood, in Caerphilly county, who lost her five-year-old son McCauley and her grandparents in 2005 to carbon monoxide poisoning.
McCauley Thomas, five, had been staying with Patrick Chidgey, 71, and his wife Gloria, 68, at Pontllanfraith, near Blackwood, in October 2005.
A Newport inquest heard carbon monoxide had built up in the house because of a blocked chimney from a coal fire.
An investigation showed the chimney had not been swept and the boiler not been serviced for “some time”.
Ms Forbes said: “We hadn’t got round to putting an alarm into our home, and I now have to live with that forever.
“Too many lives are lost or harmed each year because people don’t realise the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning.
“I want every parent in Wales to buy a carbon monoxide alarm this week.
“Believe me, spending £20 on an alarm is worth it – it can protect you and your family from permanent brain damage and it might save your lives.”
Gwyn Price AM said he hoped the event would be a “significant first step to achieving the campaigns objectives, here in Wales”.
The campaign group claims 1.8m people in Wales are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning because they do not have an alarm.
It says research shows 74% of people are unaware that carbon monoxide – which has no colour, taste or smell – can kill, and only 15% realise it can cause brain damage.
Find a surveyor near you if you think carbon monoxide might be building in your home. Click here to find your nearest Chartered Surveyor.
Source: BBC website.
